End-of-the-Year Student Favors: Writing with a Purpose

The end-of-the-year ALWAYS sneaks up on me. Every year. I love doing little favors for the students as a small token of my appreciation for a great year. Usually with 2 classes I try to stay within budget. The past few years I've given small plastic beach pails, however I feel apprehensive about simply purchasing a gift for the sake of giving a gift. This year I wanted to find something more meaningful for my students. That's when I decided to do a fun pen pal activity. This way students are able to practice writing over the summer and get mail. Remember how exciting it was receiving mail as a kid, also known as a time before bills? Now it's important that you commit to actually writing back to your students. Other than that, this is a fairly inexpensive end-of-the-year favor. To make it more exciting for the students I am attaching fun pencils for them to use while writing their letters. I used these Branch & Twig pencils.


You can download the poem HERE:

Kindergarten Summer Learning Packet

... Cause We'll Have FUN, FUN, FUN...

  Sweet summer is almost here! It's the time of year where we're all drowning in paperwork and assessments while still attempting to teach and pack-up a classroom. I could seriously use a personal assistant right about now! 

Like most teachers, I always like to send home a summer learning packet on the last day of school. This year I decided to make my own instead of hunting around to put it together. Here are a few pictures of some the activities in this packet. So sit back, pour yourself an ice cold lemonade (or margarita), and enjoy the last few weeks of your year! You deserve it!

Download it HERE!

    

    

    

    

Download it HERE

Camp Kindergarten: Ocean Week!

This week in my summer camp, my class discussed the ocean (for additional ocean resources click HERE). Camp Google was a very valuable resource for the students. We completed an experiment on echolocation by discussing how dolphins see underwater. The Camp Google website explains how to do this, but I added the directions below as well!

Echolocation Experiment

Materials: Paper towel rolls, tin pan, tape.

Students demonstrate echolocation by whispering into a paper towel roll that is pointed toward the tin. A partner points the other paper towel toward the tin and places his/her ear on the roll. Students take turns. You can use wrapping paper rolls as well!

My class LOVED this experiment. We even turned it into a literacy center by placing sight word cards at the center. One partner spelled a word while the other listened and tried to name the sight word.

Camp Google

Whether you are teaching over the summer or if you have little ones at home, this new website created by Google is  amazing! The perfect resource to find interesting activities to do over the summer. New activities are uploaded weekly and follow several themes. I used Camp Google this week during my summer camp. Check it out!

Sight Word Fishing Game

This is easily a favorite in my classroom! Students simply pull fish using a magnetic fishing rod and read the sight words. If they can read the word on the card they can keep the fish! Download it HERE! 

Other Camp Ideas!

Camp Kindergarten: 8 Camp-Themed Literacy Centers for Kindergarten

I'm working a summer reading and math camp and I wanted to set up some fun camp-themed activities! I haven't gotten to all of the centers yet, but I thought I'd showcase just a few!

S'more Fun: Vowel Sorting Activity

So far my kinders LOVE this center. I printed 2 sheets of the marshmallows on card stock then laminated them. I used sticks and a hot glue gun to attach them to both sides of the stick.

To make the vowel fire outs:

Camping & Rolling: Sight Word Activity

Camping Spelling & Writing Center: Building Words 

Sight Word Fishing Game

Download Camp Kindergarten Packet in my TPT Store by Clicking HERE!

 

Have No Fear, It's the End of the Year!

Hello Summer!

There is nothing in the world that I love more than summer. A beach girl to core, I spend my summers soaking up the rays and sipping on margaritas on Long Beach Island, New Jersey (insert GTL joke here). After 9 months trapped in the narrow confines of a crowded classroom with 20 some 5 & 6 year-olds, a margarita (or two) is well-deserved. As my last day of school countdown dwindles and summer slowly approaches, I can almost smell the salt water more and more every day! Who's with me?

Despite my love for summer and the beach, I still feel my heartstrings pull as I prepare to say goodbye to my very small yet inquisitive little friends. Even as I'm laying on the sandy beaches of LBI, I can't help but wonder how my students are spending their summers. As their teacher, I obviously envision them diligently reading their leveled books while they analyze the story elements and respond in their journals. Hopefully they are remembering how we worked so meticulously to separate sentences with periods and begin new ones with capital letters.

It's so hard not to fall in love with them. I've grown to admire their curiosity and look forward to seeing them move from grade-to-grade.  I like to leave my students with little gifts and mementos to remember their Kindergarten year. I hope that they reflect back on this year each year as they grow and remember all of the important and fun things we did in our time together. This year, I'm planning on making a slideshow and giving a CD to each child. I'm not a huge fan of sending home a huge packet of worksheets and I cringe at the thought of my students sitting inside on such beautiful days completing rote activities when they cold be outside enjoying summer. I decided to make a fun Getting Ready for 1st Grade Activity Calendar for my students instead. This calendar gives then fun and educational activities to do with their friends and family all summer long. I know that as I enjoy my summer, my students are given opportunities to do the same. 

You can download your own calendar by clicking on the picture.

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